Phonograph stop



J. BRANDSTTTER PHONOGRAPH STOP FledvMaICh 17, 1924 Patented DecD 2, 1924-.

JOSEF BRANDSTETTER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

FHNOGRAPH STOP.

Application filled March 17, 1924. Serial No. 699,814.

" Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in a Phonograph Stop; and I do hereby declare theI following to be a. full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled T0 in the art to which it apporta-ins to make and use thel same.

My invention relates to the class ol phonograph stops in which a brake member is automatically released when the tone arm of the phonograph reaches a point corresponding to that at which the needle of the reproducer is close to the end ot the groove in the record. F or this purpose, the presented invention aims to provide a sto-p which can readily be assembled in its entirety, which can easily be attached to a standard type ot phonograph, which can readily be adj usted with a high degree of accuracy as to its stopping` point, which will maintain the accuracywhen in service, and which will be both durable and inexpensive.

In my copending application No. 671,266, tiled Oct. 27, 1923, I have disclosed a stop for this purpose, which stop was designed for applying the brake to the inner 'face of the depending rim ot the turntable of a phonograph, Being thus arranged, the stop of my said copending application can be employed only on phonographs in which sufiicient head room is available under the turntable and hence is not adapted for use with a good many makes ot the phonographs now on the market. Furthermore, this type required the turntable to be detached from the phonograph to afford access tor fastening the sto-p in its proper position, thereby making it difficult to judge the proper operative position during such attaching. It also required two separate springs for urging the brake member and the latching member in different directions and required a bendable member for affording the adjustment needed to insure the desired sensitiveness of the stop.

My present invention provides a phonograph sto-p somewhat allied in principle to the aforesaid but adapted to be attached t0 the phonograph while the turntable is in its normalposition, thereby enabling even an inexperienced person to fasten it in its proper position. Moreover, my present invention provides a stop construction in which a single spring serves the double function of urging both the brake member and the latching member in certain directions, and one in which a simple screw or bolt affords the needed adjustment for sensitiveness. Still further and also more. detailed objects of my present invention will appear from the tollen-ing specilication and from the accon'rpanying drawings, in which- Fig. l is a perspective view' oi a phonograph stop embodying' my invention, with the tone arm of the phonograph partially shown in dotted lines as about ready to trip the latching member so as to release the brake.

Fig. 2 is a plan view oi the same embodiment, with full lines showing the brake member in its latched or inoperative position, and with dotted lines indicating the operative or braking position ot' this member.

Fig. 3 is an elevation of the same embodiment, taken from the bottom ot Fig. 2.

Fig. l is a fragmentary vertical section taken along` the line 4 4 of Fig. 2 and showino' the position oi' the latching member with respect to the top ledge of the supporting member and the brake lever while the latching member' is holdingthe brake lever in its retracted or inoperative position.

Fig. 5 is a similar view, showing` the position of the brake lever and the latching lever after the latter has been tripped so as to set the brake.

Fig. 6 is a horizontal section talren from the line 6 6 ot' Fig. 3 and looking upward.

Fig. 7 is a perspective view or" the metal portion ot' the brake member.

In the embodiment ot the drawings, the stop of my invention includes a supporting member having` a base plate l provided with a plurality of screw holes 2, these screw holes beine; desirably of a considerable number and distributed over1 the base plate so that screws may be inserted through any two oit them, according to the positions which may be most advantageous on the particular phonograph to which the stop is to be attached. This base plate is desirably part of a metal punching` having an integral riser 3 and having a horizontal ledge al extending` from the top of this riser and overhanging a portion of the base l.

Pivoted to the riser 3 on a horizontal rivet ,5 is a la-tching member which is here shown in the form. of a bell-crank lever having an upwardly directed operating armi 6 and also having a latching arm 7 which extends under the to-p ledge Ll oi? the supporting member. The arm 6 of this latching lever has a trip arm 8 pivoted to its free end through a friction joint 9, which friction joint oliers sufficient resistance so that the trip arm 8 and the said latching lever wiill normally move as a unit althoughr they can be moved with respect to each other whenever the latching lever 7 is positively stopped against movement in either direction.

Extending vertically through the top ledge 4 is a pivot pin 9 which aiiords a pivotal mounting for the brake member of my stop. This brake member also is shown in the form of a bell-crank lever having a handle arm 10 disposed for extending subst-ann tially concentric with the turntable ot the phonograph on which the stop is employed, and having a brake arm 11 provided with a couple of depending jaws 12 which jaws are bent towards each other during the manufacture ot the stop so as to grip a brake block 13 ot felt between them.

The portion ot the braking arm adjacent to its pivotal mounting rests substantially la-twise on the top ledge Aat of the supporting member and when the latching lever is in its latching or brake-retracting position, one edge of the braking lever engages a vertical shoulder on the arm 7 of the latching lever, as shown in Figs. 1 to 3 inclusive. This shoulder is here shown as forming a vertical edge of an upwardly projecting linger 14 on the said arm 7, and the top of this linger is desirably disposed at an acute angle to the said shoulder edge so as to be parallel to the top of the ledge 4 when the latching lever is moved to its releasing position of Fig. 5. The arm 7 of the latching lever also has a portion disposed for limiting the movement of this arm in its unlatching direction, for which purpose I am here showing this arm as carrying a downwardly directed eXtension adapted to have its tip engage the base plate 1 of the supporting member.

To return the latching lever to its latching position. I provide spring means associated with it. and for this purpose I desirably employ7 the same spring- 16 which continuously urges the brake lever towards its brake-setting or operative position. In the illustrated embodiment I am showing this spring as interposed between a linger 17 formed from the latching lever and a depending inger 18 formed trom the brake member.

lVth the stop thus constructed and tastened to a suitable portion ot the phonograph in proper relation to the turntable 19 which supports the record 20, the tone arm 21 of the phonograph is lirst moved to the position in which the needle carried by its reproducer is adjacent to the end of the record, after which the trip arm 8 is moved into contact with the tone arm, this being done while the brake is in its operative posi tion with the latching lever disposed as shown in Fig. Then the tone arm is returned manually to its starting position, the brake is released by moving the handled lever 10 in a direction which is clockwise in Figs. 1 and 2, and the rotation ot the turntable is started in the usual manner. This leaves the latching lever in the position of Fig. l. until the tone arm acts upon this lever through the trip arm 8, thereby moving the lever about its pivot 5 (in a direction which is clockwise in Fig. l) so as to release it from engagement with the adjacent arm 22 ot the brake member.

lVhile the brake lever is retracted, the latching lever engages the bottom of the ledge 4, thus holding the top oi the shouldercarrying projection 14- ata predetermined height above this ledge. Consequently, the releasing of the brake, will al 'ays be accomplished by a predetern'iined extent of movement ot the latehing lever, provided that the main arm 22 of' the brake member always at the saine height above the ledge et. However, since the spring 1G always tends to raise the latehing arm 7 and since this arm has its projection 14 engaging the bottoni ot the brake arm 22 while these parts are in the position ot Fig. 5 during the initial adjusting olE the stop, the spring may cause the finger 1l to litt the brake arm 9.2 oil the ledge at. so that the accuracy of the adjustment will depend on the extent of this lifting. In practice, a slight lifting of the brake arm during the adjusting may be permitted, so as to avoid undue friction of: the brake arm in moving over the ledge 4, hence I provide means tor limiting the extent of this lifting. For this purpose I desirably provide a threaded member, such as a screw il?, extendingthrough a slot 24 in the brake arm 22 and having its head overhanging the top ot this brake arm. By adjusting this screw, I can readily vary the extent of the said permitted lifting. thereby varying the said adjustment, while the shank of this same screw may engage one end of the slot 9st to limit the movement of the braking member in its bralereleasing direction, I preferably provide an auxiliary stop member tor this purpose in the form o'f a finger Q5 depending from the brake arm and adapted to engage one edge of the ledge 4.

It will be obvious troni the above that nl v entire stop is quite simple. inexpensive ot manufacture, easily installed and easily adjustable. Furtiierniore` since the spring in has a large portion ot its length disposed below the ledge t, this ledge serves as a lli lll

guard for preventing the lingers of the user `lrom touching the spring while he is reaching down and moving the handle l() during the starting of the phonograph. Hence no particular care is required on the part of the user when manipulating my stop.

However, while l have illustrated and described my stop in a highly desirable embodiment, I do not wish to be limited to the details of the construction and arrangement thus disclosed, it being obvious that many n'iodiications might be made without departing either from the spirit of my invention or from the appended claims.

I claim as n'iy invention l. A phonograph stop comprising a supporting member having a riser portion and an elevated ledge connected to the riser portion; a vbrake lever pivoted to the said ledge on a vertical axis; a latching lever pivoted to the riser on a horizontal axis and having a shoulder adapted to engage the brake member for holding the latter in its inoperative position; and spring means continuously tending to move the latching lever into its said holding position and to move the bra-ke lever into operative position.

Q. A phonograph stop as per claim l in which the said ledge and the brake member have interengaging parts arranged for limiting the movement oi' the brake member out of its operative position.

3. A phonograph stop as per claim l, in which the brake member is provided with a downwardly directed linger disposed for engaging an edge of thel said ledge to limit the movement of the brake member away from its operative position.

4. A phonograph stop as per claim l, in which the said ledge overhangs the spring so as to serve as a guard i'or the spring.

5. A phonograph stop as per claim 1, in which the latching member includes a lever extending in a generallyr horizontal direction and projecting below the said ledge and having a downwardly directed stop linger, the said lever also having an upwardlv directed portion adording the said shoulder for engaging the brake member, and the supporting member having a base portion adapted to be engaged by the said stop finger to limit the movement of the latching lever in its unlatching direction.

6. A phonograph stop comprising a supporting member having a base portion, a riser portion extending upwardly therefrom and an elevated ledge overhanging the base portion; a brake lever pivoted to the said ledge on a vertical axis, a latching lever pivoted to the riser portion on a horizontal axis and having a shoulder adapted to engage the brake lever to hold 'the latter in its inoperative position, and a single spring connecting the two levers for continuously urging the latching lever into a position in which its shoulder effects the said holding and continuously urging the brake lever towards its operative. position.

7. A phonograph stop as per claim l, in which the latching lever and the brake lever are each provided with a linger and in which the spring means col'nprise a tension spring connecting the said two fingers.

8. A phonograph stop as per claim l, in which the latching lever and the bralre leve-r are each provided with a linger and in which the said spring means comprise a tension spring connecting the said two lingers, the linger on the brake lever being directed towards the said base portion and the spring extending below the said ledge so as to be guarded by the latter.

9. A phonograph stop as per claim l., in which the latching lever has portions respectively adapted to engage the bottom of the said ledge and the top of the said base portion for limiting` the n'ioven'ient of the latching lever in respectively opposite directions about its said pivotal mounting.

10. A phonograph stop as per claim l, in which the latching lever has a portion disposed for engaging the bottom oi the ledge. to limit the movement of the lever in its latching direction when the lever in its latching disposition and has another portion engaging the brake lever to limit the movement of the lever' in the same direction when the brake is unlatched. l

l1. A phonograph stop as per claim l, in which the latching lever has a portion disposed for engaging the bottom of the ledge to limit the movement of the lever in its latching direction when the lever is in its latching disposition and has another portion engaging the brake lever to limit the movement of the lever in the same direction when the brake isunlatched, and adjustable means carried by the support for limiting the movement ot the brake lever by its last named engagement with a portiony of the latching lever.

Signed at Chicago, illinois, March 11th,

JOSEF BRANDSTETTER. 

